If an athlete in Ancient Greece was victorious at the Olympic Games or another important competition, he was honoured and rewarded at home in his hometown. But the winners themselves also did a lot to ensure that their triumph was not forgotten. Why the Thebans favoured youth sports, the Spartans were proud of the “raw power” of their wrestlers and the Ptolemaic dynasty emphasised their successes in horse racing: In the second part of “Ancient Athletes”, Dr Sebastian Scharff takes another look at the history of sport in ancient Greece.

A new world record is broken in the marathon, the athlete hurls the discus, the stadium cheers. When we hear coverage of major sporting events such as the Olympic Games, we hardly realise how many terms used in modern sport actually date back to ancient Greece. But how much do these words actually have in common with their ancient origins? Where, how and why did the ancient Greeks play sport? How much religious ritual was involved in sport? In the first episode of “Ancient Athletes”, Dr. Sebastian Scharff takes a look at the history of sport in ancient Greece.

In this episode, Meghna Roy (University of Oslo) is in conversation with Mayssa Rekhis (University of Gothenburg) and Thomas Stodulka (University of Münster) to explore the significance of psychological anthropology as a critical public endeavour. The guests discuss their personal journeys with the subject, the formation of the European Network for Psychological Anthropology, and the ethical implications of fieldwork.

The question of the provenance of an object has also been a focus of research at the Archaeological Museum in recent years. Do exhibits here also belong to someone else? And how do the museum team and the university administration deal with this? In Episode 27, guests Dr Helge Nieswandt and Saskia Erhardt discuss how the museum is embedded in research, teaching and transfer at the university.

On 9 November 1974, Holger Meins died during the 3rd hunger strike in Wittlich prison and posthumously became a symbol of the supposed “martyrdom” of German left-wing terrorism. Duška Roth and Lorenz Hoffmann talk to historian Kevin Lenk, who has researched the death of Holger Meins and its significance for the radical left-wing scenes and the political propaganda of the RAF.

With ‘body modifications’, Lukas Kerk is investigating an unusual topic in his doctoral project. In episode 25 of the podcast “Neues aus der Alten Welt”, he introduces himself and provides insights into the subject of Pre- and Protohistory, which covers around 99% of human history and uses material sources rather than written records. He also explains whether Ötzi's tattoos really had a medical reason, as is often assumed in research due to their location on certain parts of the body.